Acer Aspire 5315 shuts down on its own

On Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:34:27 -0600, "Sheldon"
wrote:


"Albédo" wrote in message
.. .
Oh, and the battery doesn't seem to be the problem either.
--
a.


1. Check all the power settings. Make sure when it's plugged in they are
all on and nothing is shutting down.
2. Time how long it takes for the computer to shut down. Is it the same
every time you turn it on, or does it get faster and faster? (Overheating)
3. It's very unusual for the operating system to shut a computer down. Try
safe mode and see what happens.
4. If the computer is running hot it will shut down. Check for dirt and
dust in the vents. Seriously, run the computer in the fridge and see what
happens.
5. Bad memory will shut a computer down. If the computer has two memory
cards remove the secondary card and see what happens. Then switch them and
see what happens.
6. A bad CPU will shut a computer down. If you are able to restart the
computer and it shuts down faster and faster after restarting that could be
the culprit. Most new notebooks have the CPU plugged into a socket.
7. Could be a bad motherboard. Was the computer ever dropped? Does it
"bend" when you pick it up?
8. Same symptoms when you run it on battery? How does it run when you
remove the battery and run it on AC only?
9. Have you tried wiggling the power input?

Anything on a notebook computer can be fixed for less than a new one, but
you will probably have to do it yourself and get a decent price on the
parts. The one I'm typing on now had the motherboard replaced, by me, and
the board cost me $250. But, a new comparable notebook was twice as much.
If I had it fixed at a shop it would have been cheaper to buy a new one.



And it could be its a piece of junk Acer.

Hi!

I never could find out any regular pattern: sometimes it takes only ten
minutes, the next time two hours...

It really does sound like something is overheating. Either that, or a
thermal sensor is "spinning out" and reporting a reading that is way too
high or too low, which triggers a system shutdown from the BIOS.

I would suggest trying the SpeedFan utility
(http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php) as it should be able to see the
temperature sensors in your system. If one of them acts up, you may get a
chance to see the reading jump or drop before the system quits.

Well, what's inside the fridge will turn hot, as I won't be able to shut
the
door properly?

Find someone who has a bigger fridge. :-)

Or put a fan near the computer, so that it blows on the system unit.

It's certainly possible--and worth considering, given that you've found
other people complaining of the same problem--that this is an issue with the
system. Acer may have done something wrong when they made it, and perhaps
they can fix it with a BIOS or other software update to work around the
issue.

William

"William R. Walsh" :
: (...) I would suggest trying the SpeedFan utility

Of course I knew about SF, but seeing as many people found numerous, diverse
solutions (hardware and software), I had given up all hope; NOW, here're the
readings:
- SF finds only one sensor it calls Core0
- when I launch SF, it reads 70C at once
- if I leave the machine idle, it reaches 80+ within a few minutes (then I close
my eyes, refusing to watch a machine suffer like that).
If I get it right, the "normal" reading should be around 40, with 50 being when
the alarm should ring off, so I guess changing the thermal paste (how English
izat?) may very well solve the whole thing?
What do you think, William?

: (...) perhaps [Acer] can fix it with a BIOS
: or other software update to work
: around the issue.

Problem being that I read lots of complaints from people having downloaded
whatever file the Acer website had told them to, and then finding out way too
late that there'd been some kind of mistake and the advised file wasn't the
right one.

Hope to read you on that thermal issue, William.
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a.

A few amendments:
- when I wrote the above statement, I was not aware that the machine had been
running some time before (until it shut down by itself as is usual now), so I've
done it all over again this morning, and here goes:
- starting from cold, SF soon reads 50+
- then it reaches around 80
- then the fan starts, and it cools down to 50-
- then the whole process starts all over again, only this time it would seem
that the fan doesn't start too often

Hoping this helps better understand.
Thanks for reading, if not answering.
--
a.

More news: so for a while the fan was triggered soon enough so that the
temperature would cool off down to about 47C...but after a while I noticed the
temperature was rising and the fan wouldn't start, so that it reached 99C (!)
and suddenly the machine shut down. From what I read the Athlon CPU is rigged to
that it can bear 100 and then shut down.
Now the question definitely is: what makes the fan *not* start after a while, do
you think? Would a BIOS flashing fix that?
Thanks again, thanks in advance.
--
a.

"Albédo" :
: the Athlon CPU

....should have read Celeron ).
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a.

I keep learning: It seems the problem is that the fan won't start after the
machine was put into sleep (and/or *deep* sleep?) mode.
From what I can see, even if you reboot the machine, SpeeFan says the
temperature is like 66C, and the fan won't start.
So from what I read you need to flash the BIOS, the upgrading solving the issue.
Now I need to decide if I do a DOS mode or a Windows mode flashing. . .though I
can't really figure out what they call DOS for a machine that runs under Vista.
Thanks for any help on this (too).
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a.

I did it!
I did flash the BIOS (couldn't wait any longer, with life being so short and the
Mexican flue around and all) from Vista (the zipped files allow the two modes).
As instructed, I tried not to faint when the machine shut down after the
flashing was complete, I took a deeeep breath, booted up, went F2 and checked
that BIOS version had gone from 1.14 to 1.43, entered Vista, saw that FanSpeed
was reading some 83C, grasped my hands, pricked up my ears (the rest of what I
did being none of your business ;-). . .and then I heard the fan start to run!
Sure did! The reading quicky dropped to some 45C, then I launched the deep sleep
mode (can't remember what the proper English is here), and still the fan was
rolling, then the machine quited down completely, so I revived it. . .and the
fan started again!
At first glance it seems that the fan starts when the reading reaches 70C and
until it falls to some 40-45.
Eric, I guess tomorrow we'll have lunch and no surgery after all! :-)
Thanks for reading. Hope this'll help once it's archived and Google-recoverable.
--
a.

:-(
--
a.

Changed the thermal compound, updades the BIOS, tried lots of things suggested
in forums, and still the fan starts randomly--or just doesn't.
--
a.